School demolished, but Kingsclere will remember
The Litten
from the local paper (probably Newbury Weekly News) late
1978

The
Litten School, Kingsclere, which was built in 1861,
has just become a heap of rubble. After preserving
the tiles and bricks fro re-sale, the bulldozer has
been in and near the site of four classrooms, stands
a heap of rubble.

There
has been much controversy as to whether the building
should have remained and be incorporated into the health
centre which the Hampshire regional Health Authority
is to build. Residents were divided on the issue and
some people have said they did not realise it was the
old Litten School building which was to be demolished,
but thought it was just the temporary classrooms.

The
rooms were cold but it was a solid building and the
timbers from the floor were as good as when the school
was built. The Horsa block was built in 1947 and was
used for science and woodwork. When the foundations
were dug out human bones were found.

Five
years later the Medway block was erected at a cost
of £5000 for two wooden rooms and it was built on the
site of the old jumping pit. The old kitchen and domestic
science rooms, which were both wooden buildings, were
built during the 1939 to 1945 war and were used as
a school dining hall.

Some
of the bricks and flints from the Litten School are
to be used at Clere School. The Clere are hoping to
build a memorial to the Litten, probably a sundial,
when the building is complete and has been landscaped.

The
Litten became a senior school in 1924 and later a secondary
modern before moving to Burghclere. Even though the
building has been bulldozed to make way for the health
centre's car park, the memory of the school lives on
and a painting of the Litten in 1950 hangs in Kingsclere
Primary School. This was painted by Mr Edward Dredge.